Sight of Blood
by Cloudbreeze
Summary: Shadowsong is swift, beautiful, and fierce. She had been a warrior who was loved by all the clans, until, one day, she broke for some unknown reason. She wouldn't speak or do anything, and finally, she ran away. And then, she had revenge on the cat who ruined her life... Eyes can be only too important. This is a challenge for Dawn of These Clans.


Who else amongst the world of the warrior clans brings out the emotion that she does? Awe. Admiration. Even fear. She was beautiful, and no cat could say otherwise; she was swifter than the song on the rapid winds, and stronger than the fire that had spread through the ShadowClan camp once before.

Her fur was sleek and black, her muscles gleaming from beneath her fur, her paws firmly placed, her sharp eyes the color of blood. Such a beautiful cat... who would expect she had so much to her story? Her pelt, once beautiful, is now crossed with scars in some places, one of her ears torn. Her name was Shadowsong, and there was so much to the tale of her life. The beautiful red eyes were now clouded and dull, and behind the surface, you could easily identify the deep pools of grief and sorrow.

But appearances are easily deceiving. Let me tell you, despite her extraordinary beauty and elegance, Shadowsong was a murderer.

It wasn't entirely her fault that she resorted to this. She had always been fierce and powerful, a feared warrior amongst the clans. But several moons after she had been granted her warrior title, she was wounded from a falling rock; and after she was healed, she broke down, and she would stop speaking for moons on end. No cat knew the reason for this sudden change in her, but whatever it was had left Shadowsong sad, confused, and bitter.

And then, within ShadowClan, the murders began.

It all began with Leafthorn, the ShadowClan medicine cat, and when she was found, her glassy eyes bulged, her head bent awkwardly to one side, one paw limp and broken, and claw-slashes all over her body. But both of her ears were pricked, as if she was listening to her murderer's words. It was clear that whoever had done this had a good reason for making her death painful.

Then, another cat was found. This time, it was Leafthorn's sister and best friend, Darksky. This time, the cat was killed less painfully, and the claw-marks on her dark pelt had reduced. The clan was in a state of panic. And, to add to it all, Shadowsong, a well-loved she-cat amongst all the clans, was still acting confused and despaired.

Leafthorn's only surviving parent, her father Blackshade, had also been killed this way. By now, it was clear to ShadowClan that the murderer, whoever it was, had a true quarrel with Leafthorn and only Leafthorn.

And then, Shadowsong vanished.

In truth, she had run away from the clans. However, still, from time to time, the lifeless form of a cat would be found. And, as some cats say, a pair of blood-red eyes would be staring from behind a bush. Blood-red eyes that could only belong to Shadowsong.

Moons passed, and Shadowsong was soon forgotten. ShadowClan had gotten through the past few moons without any death, and it was deemed that Shadowsong was dead. Still, her form, unseen by the clan, was gazing down at the camp from a tree, and she would be in bushes, amongst tall grasses, beneath pine trees. And her blood-red eyes were still dismayed, but now, there was a new element: horror.

Soon after, Brightfeather, a very close friend of Darksky, was found in a clearing. An all-too-familiar black she-cat stood above the lifeless body, dark paws stained with blood. But, as cats approached, she gave no sign that she knew they were watching, and her eyes, her blood-red eyes, looked surprised and bewildered as her gaze reached the body of Brightfeather under her paws.

But she vanished into the forest before ShadowClan could stop her.

So, she was alive.

She was found staring into a puddle a few days later, and her crimson eyes still shone with bitterness, uncertainty, and perplexity. As the ShadowClan cats watched, she lifted a paw and sliced it through her shoulder, but her face was expressionless, as though it had never happened. It was almost as if she didn't realize that she had killed Brightfeather. And, as a matter of fact, she didn't.

When she was brought back to the ShadowClan camp, she was greeted with shock. Her black pelt now bore the marks of tooth and claw, and her eyes were dull, her face stone and emotionless. Shadowsong wouldn't speak, and she hadn't spoken for moons.

Instead, she let out a long yowl that rang far and true. And the darted away through the trees.

But why? Why did she kill all those innocent cats? It was a form of vengeance, and she wished to avenge the sadness that had plagued her for so many moons. It was due to one cat that all these others died. A particular brown tabby who had done worse than a murder. Shadowsong had survived all this time, but at what cost? It was true; the once-beautiful black she-cat would never be the same again.

There are two ways a cat can kill another. One is to break claws through the other cat's throat, then leave the cat on the stone ground to bleed and die. The other is to slowly tear the cat apart on the inside, and spark a fire of revenge that would eat away at the heart.

Shadowsong had been subjected to the second, yet, so far, she had pulled through.

And who was that cat who had forced her formerly glorious life into that of misery and hopelessness? Leafthorn, the medicine cat of ShadowClan, had broken Shadowsong from the inside. Why? Leafthorn, who had formerly been Shadowsong's close friend, had done it over a mere jealousy, that Shadowsong had been chosen to go to RiverClan to ask for help, simply because the ShadowClan leader believed that she would be more persuasive than Leafthorn.

And how did Leafthorn manage to shatter Shadowsong's spirit?

The beautiful red eyes that Shadowsong had truly possessed were now truly filled with blood. While Shadowsong had been in a state of half-wake, half-death, she lay in a nest, asleep, but her eyes were blurred and open. Still, she couldn't see what was going on in the den, as she was asleep. Unknown to the clan, Leafthorn's claws had torn into Shadowsong's eyes, and the beautiful she-cat had awoken to see Leafthorn's smirk of cold satisfaction, before her vision left her completely. She was blind, and Leafthorn had refused to heal her unless Shadowsong kept her blindness a secret.

Shadowsong, blind and confused, was now a killer, but the blood-red eyes were now sightless. It explained the death of Leafthorn, Darksky, and Blackshade. But now, she was almost driven to insanity. She didn't realize she had killed Brightfeather, and she couldn't recall murdering the she-cat.

But before she could run from the ShadowClan camp, she was halted by Bluefang, the deputy, whose challenging green eyes met her sightless red ones. Shadowsong clawed at Bluefang, but another cat, or rather, at least half the clan, pulled her back, dragging her into the center of the ShadowClan clearing. As the leader, Silverstar, spoke to her, she wasn't even sure if Shadowsong could understand her.

But then, the she-cat pricked her ears, as though she was listening. In her mind, the scene of Leafthorn's claws piercing her eyes replayed itself, and then, the day that she stood over the medicine cat, taking revenge on the part of her life that had been ripped away from her.

And, as Silverstar continued to tell her the story of what the clan had seen of her, it struck Shadowsong.

She had killed Leafthorn, but that wasn't enough for her. As she knew, an emotional death was far, far worse than a physical one. She wanted to make Leafthorn pay for what she had done, by taking the lives of her sister and father. But, as Brightfeather had decided to switch position and become a medicine cat, Shadowsong had mistaken her for Leafthorn, as the scent of herbs was strong on the she-cat.

She let out a small, muffled whimper, then lowered her head, still silent. Her eyes flitted up, and, for a heartbeat, cleared, as in, the red grew fainter, and a thin, almost unnoticeable, cut was revealed in both of her eyes. And then, the true color returned, and Shadowsong shivered slightly, her tail low.

Her former clanmates burst into murmurs and whispers, and Shadowsong flattened her ears.

The dangerous look she had once portrayed flashed in her, and her eyes were narrowed, her claws still unsheathed. Then, her hackles flattened as she faced the ShadowClan cats, and her voice was low and raspy, since she hadn't used it for a while. "Eyes..."

The clan leaned in, waiting for her to say more, but Shadowsong shook her head, and bowed her head once more.

Silverstar's claws drew a narrow line across Shadowsong's chest, but the black she-cat didn't move, nor did she give any sign that she had felt it. Shadowsong raised her head, slowly, her blood-red eyes meeting Silverstar's green ones. The emotion in her stare was enough to make any cat reach into the depths of her eyes and draw out suffering and agony.

Silverstar, who had been pinning her down, released Shadowsong, but the black she-cat didn't move. Shadowsong spoke again. "Broken..." And she stopped, then slowly rose to her paws to face the direction of the clan. "Thorns... sharp..." Shadowsong flinched as she choked out the word 'thorns'. She, of course, meant Leafthorn, but she wouldn't dare to speak for long, and she couldn't say the name of the cat who had ripped everything from her.

Shadowsong took a few paces back, and the entirety of ShadowClan watched her. Her face, full of emotion and despair heartbeats ago, was now cold and emotionless, and her unsheathed claws dug into the ground. One of her forepaws reached upwards with shocking confidence.

And, before any cat could say anything, her thorn-sharp claws plunged deep into her chest.

Shadowsong stumbled to the ground, blood pooling around her. Her bloodstained paw fell, and her sightless eyes gleamed with her long-lost spirit as her body crumpled, and even the coldest heart would melt at the painful sight of her head falling back. As the clan came closer, towards her, Shadowsong gasped out her last words.

"Leafthorn blinded me."

And then, Shadowsong's blood-red eyes glazed over, and all she could see was a flash of white, then nothing. Her eyes had been the most grand, yet the most cursed, part of her life. Eyes, clearly, have so much meaning.

Maybe, at last, she had achieved peace.


End file.
